Matsudai Setsuna
by Yue and Amaya
Summary: Kaoru, a new girl at Sarayashiki High, has a crush on her friend Kenshin Himura. But after his first girlfriend’s death, is Kenshin ready to love again? KK pairing please R&R Will take a while before we update again!
1. Prologue: Losing Someone Precious

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Rurouni Kenshin! Anyways, we wish we could!

**A/N:** Yay! FIRST STORY! This makes me/us happy, ne? Please R&R! Arigato! Happy reading!

**Summary:** Kaoru, a new girl at Sarayashiki High, has a crush on her friend Kenshin Himura. But after his first girlfriend's death, is Kenshin ready to love again?

**Forever in a Moment**

**Losing Someone Precious**

"Happy birthday Kenshin!" Tomoe said as she hugged Kenshin. She leaned back and smile at him which caused him to smile back. She brought her hand up to his left cheek and traced her fingers along his scar. The scar was a diagonal line that goes from his nose to his lower cheek. He smiled even brighter and leaned down to kiss her gently. When they broke apart they continued to smile at each other.

"Will you two love birds stop staring at each other? Megumi and I would like to have some food over here," Sano said as he stared disgustedly at Tomoe and Kenshin.

"Actually, I thought it was quite cute," Megumi stated her opinion as Tomoe and Kenshin sat down next to each other.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sano said as he stared at Megumi in disbelief.

"She can have her own opinion Sano," Kenshin said as he looked at his best friend with a disapproving look. "She's her own person."

"Whatever," Sano said as he grabbed a menu and eagerly looked at the options.

"See you tomorrow Sano," Kenshin said as he and Sano slapped each other on the back.

"Yeah, see yah. I've gotta get fox lady over here back home."

"Sano!"

"I'm just kidding Tomoe, geeze!" Sano said, rubbing the back of his head where Tomoe had punched him. "That hurt you know!"

"Well you have to learn to respect ladies!" Tomoe said in a huff.

"I do… well except for fax lady over here."

Tomoe was about to hit Sano again except Kenshin had a tight grip on her wrist.

"Don't worry Tomoe, I'll take care of him on the way home," Megumi stated coldly, glaring at Sano.

"Well, good night Megumi-chan," Tomoe said as she and Megumi hugged.

"Good night Tomoe-chan!" Megumi said as she and Tomoe steeped away from each other.

Kenshin and Tomoe waved at Sano and Megumi as they drove of in Sano's car.

"They'd make a cute couple if they would just admit their feeling for each other," Tomoe said as she and Kenshin stepped into Kenshin's car.

"I'll tell Sano that later," Kenshin told Tomoe smiling.

"I'm fine with that as long as you make him promise that he won't kill me for saying that."

"I will," Kenshin said as he leaned over and kissed Tomoe on the lips.

"I know you will," Tomoe said softly before they kissed again.

"Well, I have to get you home before it is too late," Kenshin said, starting the car and putting his foot on the gas peddle. "We wouldn't want Enishi to take my head off for not getting you home in time."

"Nii-san wouldn't really do that you know," Tomoe said looking at Kenshin through the corner of her eye.

"I know, but sometimes it is best to play along," Kenshin said as he pressed his foot on the gas petal when the light turned green.

The two sat in silence and watched the colors of Tokyo fly by. The streets were surprisingly empty but Tomoe and Kenshin didn't care. All of a sudden they hear a crack and then a hiss as something hit their tire and caused the air to come out quickly.

Kenshin was about to step out of the car when all of a sudden Tomoe saw two cars coming strait at them in the review mirror. She grabbed Kenshin and pulled him into the car and out of the way of the two cars. She watched in horror as one of the cars hit the back of their car and the other one came crashing into her side of the car.

The last think she heard was the sound of glass breaking as everything went black.

Kenshin opened his eyes only to close them again quickly. He could hear sirens wailing in the background as he felt people lifting him up. He winced in pain as he felt straps come over his abdomen. He opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the bright lights before looking around. People lifting a stretcher into an ambulance caught his attention. He could make out the figure of a woman and black hair coming out from underneath the white sheet that covered her body.

'Tomoe…' was the only thought that went through his head as his mind went blank and his eyes slowly fell shut.

"What happened?" Sano asked a doctor standing outside of Kenshin's hospital room. He was holding onto Megumi who was trying her hardest not to cry. He could see the tears starting to form in her eyes.

"There was a car crash," was the doctor's terse reply.

"Will he be alright?" Megumi asked, almost begging her to say that Kenshin would be okay.

"Yes. He'll be fine."

"What about the girl?"

The doctor sighed and looked at Sano and Megumi sadly. "She died on impact."

Megumi stared at her for a second before promptly fainting.

"I'm so sorry," the doctor said placing a hand on Sano's shoulder. "It's okay to cry," she whispered, barely loud enough for Sano to hear her.

Sano had been trying to hold back the tears but, when the doctor said that the tears broke his hold and started streaming down his face. He collapse to the floor, Megumi still in his arms, and leaned against the wall. The doctor looked at Sano with eyes full of pity before opening the door the Kenshin's room and walking inside.

'Why did she have to die?' Sano thought as he wiped fiercely at the tears coming down his face. 'He told me he was thinking about proposing to her when we got out of highs school… well at least when they got out of high school.'

"Sano?"

Sano looked down at the girl in his arms and could see the tears ready to fall. "Tell me it was a dream. Tell me it was all a fucking dream!" Megumi whispered fiercely at him.

"It's not," Sano replied hoarsely. He held Megumi tighter as the tears started to fall. It wasn't long before he could feel sobs shacking her body as she buried her face in his shirt.

They sat that way for what seemed like forever. It seemed as if everyone in the hospital knew about the accident, for whenever a nurse or a doctor sent a glance their way it would be full of pity. At first Sano would glare at them for not getting there sooner, for not saving Tomoe's life, but he knew it wasn't their fault so eventually he just looked away.

Sano and Megumi both looked up when they heard the door to Kenshin's room open. The doctor came out, looked at them and smiled. "Your friend's awake," she said softly. "You con go see him if you want."

"Thank you," Sano told the doctor as he helped Megumi up before walking into Kenshin's room and closing the door.

The room was a typical hospital room. The walls were painted in white and there was medical equipment everywhere. Sano looked away from the I.V. in Kenshin's arm and found himself studying his face instead.

In addition from the scar that Kenshin already had, he had gotten another one perpendicular to the first, creating and x.

Kenshin looked up and smiled at Megumi and Sano when they opened the door. Sano leaned against a bare space on the wall and Megumi sat down on the chair to the right of Kenshin. She took his left hand gently started to stroke it.

"I'm glad that you're alive," Sano said with a weak smile. "Although I must say that your car is now officially a piece of shit."

"I figured as much," Kenshin said as he looked at Sano and smiled.

"How are you doing?" Megumi as Kenshin tears coming out of her eyes again.

"I'm fine. What about Tomoe? Have you spoken to her yet?"

There was silence as Kenshin looked back and forth between his friends.

"We couldn't talk to her," Sano said. His voice was low and emotionless. It sent a chill through the room.

"What do you mean Sanosuke," Kenshin asked fearfully.

Megumi whispered something that no one could hear, but Sano didn't need to hear her in order to know what she said.

"What did you say Megumi?" Kenshin asked a little bit calmer.

"Tomoe's…" Megumi started before looking away.

"Tomoe's what?" Kenshin asked, panic was evident on his face.

"Tomoe's… dead."

There was silence in the room as Kenshin slowly leaned further back into his cushions. Megumi started to cry, but no sound came out of her throat. Sano just lowered his head, his bangs hiding his eyes from view. Sano slowly started to drag his feet over to where Megumi sat. He place his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him with tearful eyes.

"Come on," Sano whispered silently to Megumi while nodding at the door.

Megumi slowly stood up, letting Kenshin's hand go. She walked slowly over to the door, opened it and closed it behind her. Sano could hear her sobs from where he stood by Kenshin's bed. Sano slowly started to head towards the door himself after giving his friend a squeeze on the shoulder.

"Sano…"

Sano was barely able to hear the soft voice call out his name. He turned to face his friend, his eyes met the tear filled one's of his best friend.

"Sorry man," Sano whispered softly. He quietly opened the door and closed it softly behind him. He didn't want Kenshin to see him cry.

"Are you ready to go yet?" Sano asked Kenshin as they gave they're regards to Enishi, Tomoe's older brother.

"Not just yet… I want to say goodbye one more time," Kenshin said, looking in the general direction of Tomoe's grave.

"We'll wait for you by the car," said Megumi as she and Sano walked out of the huge living room.

Kenshin walked out of the living room and onto the back porch. He stood there and watched as the autumn wind pulled some sakura blossoms off of their tree. His red hair blew behind him and pulled at his suit, as if wanting to drag him off of the face of the earth, allowing him to be free of his grief.

"Not just yet," Kenshin whispered softly to the wind and, as if the wind heard Kenshin, the wind died down.

Kenshin walked in the direction of Tomoe's grave and soon found himself looking at the tombstone.

"At least you have the courtesy to visit her grave," said a voice coming from behind Kenshin.

"Why wouldn't I Enishi?" Kenshin asked as he turned around to look at Tomoe's older brother.

"Because you're the reason Tomoe is dead."

"How is that so?" Kenshin asked.

"I don't know how but I know you had something to do with this."

"I had nothing to do with her death," and with that Kenshin walked away from Tomoe's grave and to his friends.

'Whatever you say Himura,' Enishi thought as he watched Kenshin get into the car with Sano and Megumi. 'Whatever you say.'


	2. Kamiya Kaoru

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Rurouni Kenshin!

**A/N: **SECOND CHAPTER! Yay! I can't believe we got it out so fast! Hope this chapter is a good follow up from the prologue! Happy reading! (Don't forget to review!)

* * *

**Forever in a Moment**

**Kamiya, Kaoru**

(One Year Later)

"Here's your schedule Miss Kamiya," said the secretary.

"Thank you very much."

"Oh it's no problem. Do you want someone to show you around the school?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. Thank you for the offer though."

"No problem! Now you might want to get to class before the bell rings."

"Okay, see you later!" Kaoru said as she ran out the door.

'Okay,' Kaoru thought as she opened a slip of paper. 'Locker number 32… that's near the entrance of the school.' Kaoru walked in the direction of the school's entrance and soon found her locker.

'13… 33… 23.' click 'Well that's easy to remember,' Kaoru thought as she grabbed her books for history which was her first class of the day. 'Let's see if I can survive an hour and thirty minutes of the most boring subject in the world,' Kaoru thought as she headed down the hallway.

The bell rang and Kaoru waited outside of the classroom until she heard her name like the secretary told her too. After ten minutes of waiting, Kaoru decided to just go in.

The whole class was staring at her as she stood glaring at the teacher. 'It's probably the long sleeved shirt,' Kaoru thought, still glaring at the teacher. 'It may be fall but it is still hot outside.'

"Who are you?" the teacher asked, clearly puzzled.

"The very annoyed student who you were supposed to introduce to the class ten minutes ago," replied Kaoru coldly.

There was silence in the room as everyone turned their attention to the teacher. The teacher stared in shock at Kaoru before glaring at her in anger. "There are no new students in this class and you will not address a teacher like that."

Kaoru walked over to the teacher's desk and grabbed the attendance list.

"What do you think you're-"

"Kamiya, Kaoru," Kaoru said, pointing at her name on the list to the teacher. "It even has a not next to it saying 'new student'."

At this the whole class burst into laughter as the teacher glared at Kaoru. Kaoru smirked in return, knowing that this would spread through the school like wild fire. 'I can imagine it now,' Kaoru thought. 'Teacher Brought Down By New Kid. I'd love to see the look on her face when she sees that in the school newspaper.'

"Well Miss Kamiya," the teacher said agitated. "Since you've proven yourself a member of this class would you like to tell the rest of the class a little bit about yourself?"

"So that you can use that information against me? What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Kaoru asked in an 'offended' tone as the rest of the class erupted in laughter.

"I'm going to step outside for a moment," the teacher growled as she marched out of the room.

"Nice job," said a voice behind Kaoru. Kaoru turned around to see a girl standing behind her. Her long, black hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing large, silver, dangly earrings. She was wearing a black tube top with a purple stripe on the right side and black jeans with a purple design on the bottom and a purple and black belt. She was wearing black boots.

"Thanks," Kaoru said as she smirked.

"I'm Megumi," the girl said as the continued to smile at each other. "Wanna sit with me and my friends?"

"Sure," Kaoru said with a shrug. "It's not like I have any other invitations."

Megumi smiled and started to walk towards two boys who were laughing hysterically, barely being able to stay in their seats. One of the boys had spiky, black hair that sometimes looked brown depending on how the light hit it. He had a red ribbon tied around his forehead. He wore a white t-shirt black, baggy pants, and black basketball sneakers.

The other boy had long, red hair which was tied back in a ponytail. He wore a red shirt, loose, black jeans and black and red basketball sneakers. He also had a scar on his left cheek that was shaped like and 'x'.

'He's kinda hot,' Kaoru thought as she glanced at the second boy. 'I would say he's beautiful but I don't think he would appreciate that if I told him so.'

"He guys," Megumi said. The two boys stopped laughing and looked up at Megumi. "Well as you know this is Kaoru," Megumi said pointing to me, "and they are Sanosuke and Kenshin," Megumi said, pointing to each boy in turn.

"Call me Sano," Sano told Kaoru with a wave.

"It's nice to meet you Kaoru," said Kenshin with a smile.

"I like your outfit," Sano said after looking Kaoru up and down. "It suits you."

Kaoru looked down to see what she was wearing. She was wearing a short sleeved, black t-shirt that said "it always rains at night" in white letters over a long sleeved, white shirt. She was also wearing black jeans with a stud belt and white sneakers. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had left a few strands down, framing her face. She was also wearing a black chocker that had a sword on it, and tear drop earrings.

"Thank you," Kaoru said, smiling at Sanosuke.

"So where do you come from?" Megumi asked Kaoru.

"Kyoto."

"You used to live in Kyoto?" Megumi asked amazed.

"Yeah, until two days ago."

"What's with the sudden mover?" Kenshin asked curious.

"My parents thought I should spend a year by myself since I was having issues at school and my parents couldn't move because of their jobs." 'Nice lie Kaoru,' Kaoru thought to herself as she gave herself a mental high five.

"I wish my parents would think like that," Megumi said sadly.

"Why? Don't you like them?" Kaoru asked confused.

"Megumi's parents died when she was young in a plane crash. She was adopted by a doctor and his wife but Megumi and her 'mother' don't get along very well," Sano explained.

"I see."

Everyone looked towards the door as it creaked open. Kaoru and Megumi quickly sat down in their seats and pulled their history stuff out. However, once Kaoru saw who the person was she started to mentally hit her head against her desk.

"Hello class," the man said. "First of all I personally thank whoever got that bitch fired." When the man said that everyone started laughing again at the memory of their teacher getting told off by Kaoru. "Anyways, my name is Shinomori, Aoshi. I will be your new history teacher. Now let's get down to business."

"I'll meet you guys in t he cafeteria," Kaoru said as the bell rang for recess. "I have to talk to someone."

"Fine with me," Sano said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Just don't take too long okay?" Megumi said.

"Okay."

"See you in a few," Kenshin said as the three of them walked out of the classroom and in the direction of the cafeteria and their lockers.

Kaoru and Aoshi were the only people left in the room.

"I'm assuming you're the one that told the teacher off Kaoru," Aoshi said emotionlessly as he started organizing the papers on his desk.

"Why the hell are you here?" Kaoru asked, not bothering to answer Aoshi's question.

"You're avoiding my question."

"Mine's more important," Kaoru said defiantly.

"Your mother ordered me to protect you and so I will," Aoshi said looking calmly at Kaoru.

"Fine, but couldn't you have changed you name?"

"I like my name thank you very much," Aoshi said in a slightly, offended voice.

"What happens if father finds out about you?" Aoshi stopped arranging the papers on his desk and looked at Kaoru. "What happens if mother accidentally tells him about you? He will be able to trace you easily enough and then he'll find me! What kind of protecting is that!"

Tears were coming out of Kaoru's eyes as Aoshi approached her shaking body.

"Where's the latest mark?" Aoshi asked Kaoru and she rolled up her left sleeve. Aoshi was surprised when he didn't see the usual bruise, but instead he saw a long cut running from her elbow to her shoulder.

"He invited his friends over and one of them 'accidentally' cut me with his sword. They were laughing about it for hours," Kaoru said as she rolled down her sleeve. She wiped her tears away fiercely when she felt them sliding down her face.

"Here," Aoshi said tossing something to Kaoru.

"What is it?" Kaoru asked as she caught the tiny object.

"Keys to my house," Aoshi said as he started to gather his papers.

"Why would I need keys to your house?" Kaoru asked puzzled.

"Just incase that crazy bastard that you call a father finds you and brings a couple of friends over to your place."

"Once problem," Kaoru said which caused Aoshi to stop which his hand on the handle of the door.

"What might that be?"

"Actually there are two. One, I don't know where your apartment is and two, the only way to get there would be out the front door which my father and his crazy friends would be trying to nock down."

"First of all, I live in the house to the right of yours. Second of all, you could just climb out the window. The smallest key is a key for the windows on the first floor the lock is on the outside."

"What does the other key do?"

"What do you think?"

"Open the front door?"

"You're an absolute genius," Aoshi said, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," Kaoru said, almost bursting out into tears again.

"You're welcome. Now if you don't mind I have a class to teach."

"We still have fifty minutes of recess left."

"Well then I'll go take some Tylenol," and with that Aoshi left Kaoru in the homeroom smiling at his retreating figure.

"What took you so long?" Sano asked as Kaoru joined them at their table in the cafeteria.

"I had some locker issues."

"Well no that that's cleared up," Sano said rubbing his hands together, "you wanted to say something Kenshin?"

"Way to put me on the spot Sano," Kenshin said glaring at Sano.

"You're welcome."

"Stop it you guys!" Megumi said in an exasperated tone. "Now Kenshin, you were going to say?"

"I was wondering if you would want to come to my house for the weekend. It's my birthday on Saturday and so far Sano and Megumi are the only people coming."

"Sure, Id' love to," Kaoru said smiling. 'Why wouldn't I? He's so hot!'

"Okay then where do you live?" After he noticed the weird look that Kaoru was giving him he quickly added, "I'm picking everyone up. We're going to see a movie Friday night."

"I live two blocks to the north of you." There was a long silence as everyone looked at Kaoru like she was crazy. "What? I was bored and the class list was the closest reading material handy."

"Well… let's go to the computer room for the rest of recess," Megumi said and everyone stood up.

"I'll see you guys later!" Kaoru said and walked down the pathway that led to her front door. She stood there for a minute before cautiously opening the door and peering inside. She visibly relaxed and walked inside.

'What's wrong with her?' Kenshin wondered as he, Sano, and Megumi parted ways.

* * *

Thanks Reignashii, Ilychlenin, Nixy-Chan, and gabyhyatt for the reviews! Don't forgett to rewiew!


	3. Hanging Out At Aoshi's

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Rurouni Kenshin!

**A/N: **YAY! 3rd chapter:D Wow, we're updating really quickly, ne? Hope this chapter is enjoyable! Don't forget to review:D Thanks Reignashii and XKenKao12X for the reviews!

**Forever In A Moment**

**Hanging Out At Aoshi's**

Kaoru quickly ran into the living room of her small house. Not bothering to turn on the lights, she flopped down on the couch and sighed, relishing the peace and quiet of her home. Yes, she thought. It was her home. She was free, and as long as her father didn't find her, it wouldn't change. She hoped. Letting her thoughts drift, she recalled the events of her day.

A small smirk played on her lips as she remembered her striking and very, very conspicuous entrance into her first class. That ass of a teacher had walked straight out of the room under the heat of embarrassment and annoyance at her stupendously respectful class. And then the bitch had been replaced with Aoshi. Yeah. Great. He was the thread that would lead right up to her father finding her.

Father. Yeah, right. He was a sadistic, drunk asshole that would end up going to hell with his friends after she made sure every single one of them had been dipped in hot oil, tarred, and then feathered.

She shook her head. Having these kind of thoughts never lead to any good. Instead, she let her mind wander back to the previous subject, her first day at Sarayashiki high. It wasn't bad. Sano was good. He'd gotten left back a year, so he was a year older than Megumi, Kenshin and her. It was his senior year at that, too. She didn't understand why he still went to school. Maybe he couldn't stand not to see his friends everyday. Or maybe he really _was_ just that stupid.

Then there was Megumi. Megumi was nice, too. She was way smarter than most of the kids in the class, but she was about as willing to speak up in class as a rock. Kaoru really liked her. She could be bitchy, but she was definitely a good person to have for a friend. She was slightly flirtatious, and Kaoru had noted with amusement that Sano always got pissed when she got too close to another guy. Kenshin had laughed and slapped him on the back when he muttered something along the lines of ".damn that whore."

Ah, yes, Kenshin. He was interesting. He puzzled her. Most of the people she met, Kaoru could read them and their feelings like books. But not Kenshin. He was different. He was always smiling at her. Hell, he was always smiling at everyone. It just seemed. wrong. Kaoru didn't know why. It just seemed impossible for someone to be so happy and calm. Every normal person got pissed at least a few times a day. She had the same schedule as him; she'd been with him the whole freaking day.

Suddenly, she was jerked out of her thoughts by a sound she couldn't identify. Immediately, she sat up, looking around her.

The lights were still out, so everything was dark with a strange shade of blue. She shivered, though it wasn't really cold at all. She strained her ears, but she heard nothing. Her eyes scanned over the simple room. There was the TV, where the screen was dark, with dull yellow light bouncing off it at the corners. It was a bit eerie. Next to that was a standing lamp with a yellow cover. Nothing fancy. She scanned across the doorway that lead out of the room to the small bookcase that was there. There wasn't really anything worth noting. It was too close to the wall, and not high enough to hide any grown man. Finally, her eyes game to rest on the small table in front of her couch. Again, nothing special. Sighing, she gave up.

But the noise came back, causing her to jump. She still couldn't tell what it was. At best, she could describe it as a soft tapping or clunking against an unknown material.

She was getting scared. Cold sweat was beaded on her forehead, and she quickly wiped it away with a sleeve. Shaking her head to rid herself of her doubts, she started telling herself it was nothing. 'Get a hold of yourself, Kamiya; you're being a cowared! It's nothing! There's no way they'd fine you this quickly! No, they wouldn't. Would they? No. They wouldn't.' She relaxed a bit.

Then the sound came again. Grabbing the denim jacket that was draped over the back of the couch, she jumped up and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Looking up at the sky, she noticed it was getting dark. What time was it? Reaching into her pocket, she drew out the set of keys Aoshi had given her. Thanking the lord (and Aoshi), she proceeded to go next door, only to realize that there were two next doors.

'Shit.' She didn't know which one. Running to her left, she whipped out the key and fitted it into the lock. It turned. 'Yes!' She quickly opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it slowly behind her. Somehow, even though she didn't know how it was possible, his house looked slightly more welcoming than hers.

Not knowing what to do, she quickly walked to the room to her right, discovering that it was a living room. of sorts. There was the couch backed up against a wall, and the floor was carpeted, but beyond that, it was something else. Hell, it was a library. She didn't even want to know how he'd gotten them all in here in such a short time.

Sighing, and for a lack of something to do, she sat down on his couch.

It was around eleven when Aoshi approached his door. Slotting in the key, he frowned at finding that it was unlocked. 'Stupid girl.' he sighed mentally. Pushing open the door, he let himself in, making sure to lock it.

He turned to the library, and immediately seeing Kaoru on his couch, he mentally grimaced. Already, eh? Flipping on the lights, he walked in.

Sighing again, he walked up to her sleeping form. She had probably fallen asleep after having one of her fits. Bending down, he shook her gently. "Kaoru."

Her head snapped up. Fear was evident in her eyes. Recognizing him, though, she relaxed. "Aoshi, I-"

He didn't let her finish. "He didn't show, did he?"

Kaoru shut up, shaking her head.

"Good." Was all he said. He walked out of the room, and appeared moments later with a drink in his hand. The girl looked pretty beat up. She was hugging her jacket to her chest, and her head was bent low, the bangs shadowing her eyes.

"What made you come over?" He asked, sipping his drink, making sure to keep his voice and expression free of emotion.

Kaoru didn't answer. Instead, she asked him. "Can I spend the night?"

Aoshi let an eyebrow quirk. This was _not_ her home. Hers was next door. "Go home." He said, putting down his drink.

"Can you walk me?"

The girl was acting like a baby. Her house was freaking next door. She wouldn't be assaulted the minute she got onto the street. He'd make sure of it.

Not saying anything, Aoshi opened the door, walking out. "Are you coming?" He asked after Kaoru didn't move.

Slowly, she got up. He made sure she got back into the house. "Remember to finish your homework. No one's going to attack you." With that, he shut the door behind him, walking back to his own house.


	4. Gomen Nasai

**Disclaimer:** No...I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, like how I don't own Tsubasa, Full Metal Alchemist, Fruits Basket, Inu Yasha, DN Angel, Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho, Card Captor Sakura and Angel Sanctuary...must you remind me? cries

**A/N:** Yay! Chapter 3! I know I'm lazy, it took me forever! This chapter might be an odd one out because all three of these chapters were written by 3 different people... :D, my writing might be WAY different then the other... I took so long! I'm so sorry! Please R&R (otherwise there will be no reason for us to finish this story!)! Please Enjoy!

**Forever In A Moment**

**Gomen Nasai**

_Tomoe and Kenshin were walking in the park. The drastic sunset in the background made it seem more beautiful then seemed imaginable. The pair, however, would have probably been happy wherever they were, along as they were together. Kenshin was taking full advantage of the moment, the scenery to him was nothing compared to the girl that was walking next to him._

_He bent down and kissed her forehead. "I love you" he whispered into her hair. He felt Tomoe smile then look up at him. Her smile was still there but tears were pouring out of her eyes. Strangely the tears that fell from her eyes were red...it took a while for Kenshin to realize it was blood. She said something starting in a whisper and ended up in a shriek. _

"_Why? Why did you kill me?" _

_Suddenly blood was flowing from all part of her, from cuts just forming. The scenery had darkened, leaving Kenshin to only be able to see the ground, darkened by blood. His own hands were sticky from the stuff. His eyes widened as he stared at the dark liquid went drip, drip, drip off his own hands. Immediately there was blood everywhere, smothering him. It was filling his nostrils and pouring out of his mouth. He started to shout to, overriding the screams of Tomoe. He held his head in his hands and shook it violently. _

_"NO! NO! I DIDN?T KILL HER, I DIDN?T DO ANYTHING"_

Kenshin sat bolt upright in his bed. His breaths came in uneven gasps. A thin film of sweat covered his body, and he was completely tangled in the sheet. Even without thinking, he knew he must have been shouting. He untangled his hands from his hair and held them out in front of him. They were pale and shaky, definitely not covered in that crimson substance. Trying to calm himself he got up and turned on the light. Taking in the completely normal state of his room he sighed, letting out all his tension and making his shoulders sag.

He was sure that if Hiko had been home, he would have been woken up before anything too nightmarish had happened. Hiko was his guardian, after both of his parents had died from some disease. They had died and left Kenshin at a very young age. Hiko then found him and promptly adopted Kenshin as his own son.

Kenshin meandered his way back to his bed, stepping over random piles of clothing.

Usually Kenshin was very neat, but it seemed like this week he couldn't be bothered. Kenshin threw himself down on his bed, pushing his face into a pillow to hide the tears that were flowing freely from his eyes.

'Tomoe...'

In school, Kenshin seemed pretty normal. He greeted everyone with a smile, laughed at peoples jokes, same as usual. However, unless someone started a conversation with him, then he was silent. He didn't want to worry his friends, but he didn't want to keep his dream a secret. He was thinking about telling Sano when he remembered how glad Sano was when the nightmares had seemed to have stopped.

School seemed to pass sluggishly, Science, Recess, Japanese, English, History. Kenshin wondered briefly what was going on between Aoshi-sensei and Kaoru. They always seemed to talk after class, and it was terribly suspicious. Was Kaoru failing or something? 'We all have our secrets now, just let it be, you can ask her later if it bothers you so much...'

Blankly Kenshin made his way through the rush of 2nd period lunch, seeing Sano and the rest of his friends waiting for him at a table. He gave his award winning smile and sat down next to Kaoru. He was too busy thinking to notice the blush that lit up her face.

"Yo, Kenshin! Aren't you gonna eat any lunch?" Sano said, his mouth full with...something that had been food at one point. Kenshin smiled and said that he had had a big breakfast, so he wasn't especially hungry. This was not true, Kenshin had taken one bite of cereal that morning, as it changed from the supposedly delicious flavor of Cheerios to the sticky taste of blood he has simply chucked the cereal away.

He wasn't expecting to eat much for the rest of the day, but he might as well stop his friends from worrying. He smiled, and any worried looks at the table disappeared. Reassured by his smile. It was so unfair that they could be fooled by such a simple gesture. Happy chatter seemed to fill the table.

"Hey! I know what we can show Kaoru today! The arcade!" Sano said, rather loudly.

Everyone gave their approval to the idea, even Kenshin. Showing someone around might clear his mind, at least somewhat. With this settled the rest of the conversation only came to Kenshin in bits and pieces. All he did was nod his head or say "mmmm" for the rest of the period.

With something to wait for the rest of the day seemed to go by really fast. Kenshin could hardly remember what classes he had before he was suddenly standing outside with Sano, waiting for Kaoru and Megumi.

"I wonder what's takin' the girls so long" Sano sighed, a toothpick was hanging out of the corner of his mouth and an impatient expression on his face. Kenshin just smiled and assured Sanosuke that they would be coming out soon.

Sure enough, Megumi and Kaoru exited the building, chatting excitedly about some school project and about the arcade and in about 5 minutes the four were all piled into Kenshin's car. The radio was on to some song that everyone seemed to know, and soon the car was full of the sound of happy voices.

Kenshin was naturally good at video games. He wasn't sure what type of career would actually be so excited about such a thing, but it was just a cool thing to have. He beat everyone at pretty much every game, and soon he was loaded up with prizes that he would dutifully hand to the friend he was playing against.

The only time that Kenshin slipped up was while he and Kaoru were playing. The sleeve of her long sleeved black shirt had slipped up slightly, showing Kenshin the deep scab that ran down her arm. He had only noticed it for a moment, but that was long enough to make him relive his nightmare. Kaoru was too focused on the game to notice. The split second the Kenshin hadn't been paying attention had been long enough for Kaoru to overtake him in the game and win.

Sano and Megumi congratulated the new 'champ' as Kaoru was the only one who had beat Kenshin at a video game. She was to busy celebrating to notice the looks Kenshin was giving her. The rest of the time at the arcade Kenshin politely refused to go against anyone. Sano just shrugged it off, thinking that his friend might be sulking from losing his first match.

Kenshin and Kaoru stood awkwardly outside of her house. The strange silence was unsettling to both of them.

"Well...uh thanks for the ride home. I better go inside now..."

"No! I mean, um, Kaoru I have something to ask you..."

Kaoru looked up at Kenshin expectantly and her friend stumbled over his words.

"Um, well Kaoru...I saw something and I just want to make sure I'm not jumping to any wrong conclusions so...could you roll up your sleeve?"

Kaoru's expression changed from confused to defensive. She pulled down her sleeves further, her fingers curling around the hem.

"And what on my arm would be so interesting to you?"

"I just want to confirm something...please can I see it?"

Kaoru spun around and fumbled to put her key in the lock. Her hands were shaking too violently to push the key in. Kenshin gently took her arm and turned her back around. Kaoru's eyes were wide with surprise at how strong Kenshin was. One of his hands held her upper arm and his other was pushing up her sleeve revealing the long scab that ran down her arm.

Kaoru looked wide eyed at Kenshin's face. His normal amethyst colored eyes had turned a rather violent shade of amber. He looked quite furious. She closed her eyes to block out the frightening sight and soon she felt the fabric of her sleeve come down and cover her arm again.

"Who did this?"

His words were calm but she could feel his grip tightening on her arm. She bit her lip and held her breath. No way she could tell Kenshin. She had only met him a few days ago. She felt hot tears run down her face an she shut her eyes tightly. The grip on her arm loosened and soon it wasn't there at all.

'Stupid! You made her cry you baka! Can't you do anything right?' Kenshin's eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight of the girl crying in front of him. Waves of guilt poured over him.

"K-Kaoru? Kaoru?"

He looked helplessly at her, her body was shuddering as she started to sob violently. Kenshin reached forward and pushed her into him. He felt her face push itself into his shoulder, which was becoming increasingly wetter.

"Gomen nasai, Kaoru..."


	5. Reminder

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Rurouni Kenshin!

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long but a certain someone kept on forgetting to email me the chapter. We will definitely try to keep it from taking this long to update from now on. We're gonna try to update the next chapter within the next two weeks but it might take a little longer since two of us are going to be typing it. R&R!

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**Forever In A Moment**

**Reminder

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Kaoru's cell phone was ringing.

Where was it coming from? Grabbing her bag, she threw everything out; notebooks, a calculator, a hair brush, a... toothbrush? She'd worry about that later.

Where was her phone?

Cursing silently, she threw the empty bag aside as the ringing subsided. Walking over to her closet, she wrenched her jacket out and found the cell in the left pocket. Flipping it open, she found that she had a message from a number she'd never seen before. She listened to the message that had been left.

It was from Kenshin. When had she given him her number?

"Hey, Kaoru, it's Kenshin. I guess you're not there, but Sano, Megumi and I are going back to the arcade, We'll probably be there 'till around six-ish?" -here Kaoru heard some background noise- "oh, um, ah. Sorry. More like around eight-ish?" -here Kaoru heard even more background noise- "Hey, Kaoru, it's Sano. Kenshin doesn't know how to leave a message. What he meant to say was that we won't leave 'till a while after eight, and that would be for dinner. Come over if ya get the message." Smiling slightly, Kaoru saved the message and put on her coat.

-O-

"Oy, Kenshin! You think she'll come?"

"If she gets the message, probably, and if not, unless by some miraculous chance, no..." the red-head answered.

"How long are you boys gonna stand there chatting?" Megumi asked, sounding annoyed. "They're having three hours of DDR for free!"

"WHAT?" Sano was gone, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

"Free DDR is always good bait." Kenshin laughed.

"But it's true." Megumi responded.

Kenshin blinked. "Let's go, then."

-O-

Sano was famous.

Megumi was slightly annoyed.

The girls were cheering.

Kenshin didn't really care.

The guys were sulking, staring daggers into Sano.

Sano laughed. He had cleared a pretty hard song on Heavy. No one was going to break his winning streak.

"Put him in his place, Kenshin," Megumi said, elbowing Kenshin. "If he gets too bloated a head, he might float away."

"Ano..."

Too late. Megumi had pushed him onto the stage. Kenshin couldn't exactly back off, either. The girls were crowding the exit, and there was no way he'd get out without landing on someone. He sighed.

"Choose a song, Sano..."

"There's NO way you're gonna beat me this time, Kenshin." Sano smiled, all his teeth sparkling green in the lighting.

-O-

Kaoru ran down the steps. Hopefully, they hadn't had too much fun without her.

She arrived in time to see Sano sitting on the stage, sulking, along with Kenshin on the other dance pad, scratching his head, looking embarrassed and the crowd going wild. Looking at the screen, Kaoru gasped.

Kenshin had gotten AAA. All perfects. It was a challenge song, too.

"ONE MORE TIME, KENSHIN!" Sanosuke yelled, spit flying out of his mouth. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BEAT ME AT THI-- OOOWWWWWWWW!"

Megumi had grabbed him by the ear, and was dragging him off.

Kaoru ran up to the stage. "Hey, Kenshin! Let me try!" She waved.

Kenshin's eyes widened slightly, showing some surprise, then said, "Sure, pick a song."

"Butterfly's my favorite." she said, smiling.

Kenshin's eyes seemed to cloud slightly at this, but became clear again right away. Had it been her imagination, or did his eyes seem to tear for a second? But he was smiling now, and said cheerfully, "this song means a lot to me, too." He started the song.

Kaoru was impressed. He really was good. All his steps were exactly on target. "You're really good, Kenshin. I really admire you." Kaoru, said to him. It was near the end of the song.

Kenshin's eyes widened, and he missed a step.

"Booo!" went the machine.

The song ended, and Kenshin tore off the stage, in the direction of the bathrooms, if she remembered correctly. What had happened? She made to follow him, but was stopped by Megumi's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't." her friend's eyes were stern, and Kaoru could only look on as Sano tore after him.

-O-

"Yo, Kenshin!" Sano yelled, banging the bathroom door open. "Yo..."

His friend's back was turned against him, facing the wall. He made no response.

"That's what she said, isn't it... and on Butterfly, too..."

Kenshin turned around to face him. His eyes wavered slightly, but he smiled. "I'm okay. There's nothing wrong." He smiled widely.

But it didn't fool Sano. "Why do you have to pretend...?"

Kenshin blinked, pretending to be confused. "What do you me-"

He was cut off, as Sano grabbed his shirt and slammed his back into the wall. "You know what I mean. Stop pretending it doesn't bother you and let us help!"

Kenshin looked up at him, eyes blank. "There's nothing wrong, Sano." There was warning in his voice that told Sano to lay off.

-O-

"Kenshin! Are you okay?" Kaoru asked, running up to him upon seeing him come out of the bathroom.

"Completely." he responded, smiling widely at her. "But I'm a little tired. It takes a lot of concentration to get all those perfects. I think I'll head home now."

"What...?" Kaoru was confused. Was it something she said? He'd seemed fine when she saw him win that one against Sano. It was when she came and proposed to play that he'd gotten strange. "Wait! Kenshi--"

She was stopped by Megumi once again. "Don't..."

"But why? He's not acting normal..."

Megumi stared after their friend with a faraway look in her eyes. "Tomoe."

"Tomoe? Who's that...?"

But Megumi shook her head and walked away, leaving Kaoru behind, confused and unsure.

* * *

**A/N (NinjaKage):** Sorry this is so late. I am extremely lazy and forgetful and cannot be trusted to have things on time. I would never make my deadlines if I was a writer. Gomen nasai. 


	6. What's Wrong?

**A/N (Yue): **ahaha sorry if this isn't great (you have to realize that three people are writing this, I write Kenshin huggles Ken-chan, Amaya-chan is beta-ing this for me, which is probably a bad idea because she needs glasses...lol) . lol, right now my passion is shounen-ai/yaoi! (Loveless and Gravitation ROCK!) but that's just me, not Amaya or Ninjakage sweatdrops have to be original ya know :D anyways ENJOY!

**Forever In A Moment**

**What's Wrong?**

Everyone stumbled like drunks into Kenshin's house. Everyone was laughing, because somehow Kaoru had won a random race against Sano from the car to the door. Sano of course, much displeased at this, was chasing Kaoru all around the house trying to make her go against him in other useless things.

The car ride back from the arcade was the usual, Sano shouting over the radio at Kenshin, telling him how good he was at DDR and telling 'Jou-chan' how she 'kicked ass too' but that 'there was no way he could be beat by a girl'. Megumi (of course) was telling Kaoru how she was 'way better than that rooster head' and how she could 'put him in his place' while trying not the get hit by Sano who was sitting in the front seat. Kenshin just smiled and told Sano that he might end getting hurt if he kept trying to hit Megumi from his seat. Kaoru just grinned and agreed with Megumi's ideals, earning a whack from Sano's hand.

After a good ten rounds of the apartment Sano was covered with sweat and panting like a dog. He stumbled over to Megumi and Kenshin, who had turned on the TV during 'the chase'. Kaoru walked, seemly totally unfazed by the fact Sano had forced her to run around the house like a maniac. Sano gave her a glare before turning his attention back to the two people on the couch.

"I think its time me and Megumi got going, huh vixen?"

This of course, earned him a slap. Megumi got up off the couch and said her individual goodbyes before letting Sano escort her to the door. Sano shouted his normal goodbyes to Kenshin and 'Jou-chan'. Kenshin and Kaoru could hear their loud bickering over what Sano had called Kaoru until the door slammed shut.

Left alone, the only real choice of interaction without getting too close was of course, a movie. Kenshin grabbed a random movie and shoved it into the DVD player. The screen jumped into life. The white text read 'I-Robot' and the movie began to play.

Kaoru shifted into a more comfortable position on the coach. She was still worrying about Kenshin's little 'episode' at the arcade. Kenshin seemed ok at the moment, but was he really? There's no way that something insignificant would make him lose it. And who was Tomoe? Someone so important to him would be around him, right? So what happened to her that was so distressing to Kenshin?

"So... uh, Kenshin. What's up? You okay?"

Kenshin took a second to process the words. He seemed to be concentrating _very _hard on the movie. He turned to look at Kaoru with his usual smile.

"I'm fine, Kaoru"

"No, Kenshin, you are defiantly not fine. Do you expect me to believe that bullshit? Ever since the arcade you haven't been yourself."

Kaoru trailed off, staring at Kenshin, watching his face change slightly. His smile wilted slightly and he focused on his fingers, which were lying on the sofa. He moved his fingers around a little before looking up at Kaoru. His eyes were darker than before, a little sadder too.

"I've been found out! Well, as you wish I'll tell you what's bothering me. Someone very dear to me said had the same favorite DDR song as you, and said the same thing as you-"

"Tomoe?"

Kenshin looked surprised for a second, and his gaze again fell to his fingers, which were tightening and relaxing around the sofa fabric.

"Well yeah. Tomoe was her name. She's gone now though. Moved away. Far away. I miss her a lot though. I guess it's not something you can forget, huh?"

He ended his little speech with a trademark smile, and his eyes returned to the movie. Kaoru, satisfied with the answer also turned back to the movie.

After the movie ended it was time for Kaoru to leave. She left, giving Kenshin one more worried glance, and tell him that she'd call him and see him later. Kenshin smiled back, agreeing that they would indeed see each other later, before closing the door and returning to the living room.

He sat down on the couch and stared blankly at the black screen. He looked at his reflection. A small red headed teenager sitting slumped, gazing at the TV as if it was the most precious thing, stared back through the glass.

How could she have known about Tomoe? He thought he had kept it quiet, maybe someone had told her. Probably Megumi, Sano would never give anything about Kenshin away. How strange that Kaoru likes the same song Tomoe had? And said her exact words? It was way too much for Kenshin to handle.

He pushed off the coach and tramped to his room, where he promptly threw on a random black tank top and took off his jeans. His alarm clock was blinking numbers that read 10:30PM. Kenshin glared at the clock, before flopping down on his bed. Staring at the ceiling he fell asleep flooded with thoughts of Tomoe.

_He was laughing, and smiling. Everyone was around him, Megumi, Sano, and, of course, Tomoe...The word birthday crossed his mind, and he smiled even more, yeah, it was his birthday. Dinner, cake, how old was he? He couldn't remember. It didn't matter anyway. Megumi and Sano leave, after many slaps that Sano had received from both ladies. Tomoe smiling...Leading her to the car, the kiss...He said something to her, and she replied, but he couldn't quite hear it. Driving, the tire flattened Kenshin jumped out, checking for damage. Tomoe turned and grabbed him back into the car, he could feel his wrist crack with the strength of the pull. And then CRASH blood, blood everywhere, Tomoe, Tomoe please don't be dead...don't be dead...don't leave me...but there she was smashed against the dashboard. Dead, blood all over her lovely features, covering her body. Her blood was covering Kenshin too, smothering him and choking him. He couldn't breath, Tomoe was dead. _

Kenshin opened his eyes, expecting to see Tomoe again, but he was greeted with only his shadowed ceiling. His alarm clock flashed 3:45AM. Kenshin turned over onto his side, breathing hard, seemly gasping for breath, still smothered by her blood. Tears suddenly flowed from his eyes, but he could only see the red, staining everything, bleeding into his own skin.

He stumbled up from his bed, not wanting to be in the same place where he had just seen Tomoe's face. Tomoe...she was dead. Killed. Because of him. It was his fault that Tomoe was dead and buried. His fault.

He turned on the TV. Some late night show was on, anything would do though. He just needed a distraction. He didn't want to be thinking about Tomoe. It didn't help him to keep dwelling on the past, he needed to think of the future. He had school later today and he had to go so that Sano, Megumi and even Kaoru didn't worry about him. Blankly, Kenshin stared at the TV until finally he fell asleep.

**Random Conversations Between Authors**

**Yue: **ok, this has to be told. I saw I-Robot with my friend and there's is really sexy car in it and she said ?that hott is too car?. It was a very funny moment. Lol

**Amaya:** There was more than one friend thank you very much. I have such wonderful friends. They always forget about me?

**Yue:** ugh I don't remember that movie at all! lol WILL SMITH IS HOT?

**Amaya:** How can we ever trust her?

**Yue: **I recently slept over at this guy's house and he slept in all the same clothes he had been wearing, except he changed into shorts. A

question for all you guys, how the HELL can you do that? Lol. He then wore those clothes the next day, can i say ew?

**Amaya:** Did you share a room? WHACK! Ow! It's a legitimate question under the circumstances! And what's with "I have been found out!"? It sounds like some crappy line from a shitty movie! WHACK! Shutting up now?

**Yue:** I DID share a room, a very big room. at the very least he was hot, we would've slept on the sofa but he threw me out . bastard :D

**Amaya:** …silence… Anyways… R&R!


	7. Memories

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Rurouni Kenshin! How many times are we gonna have to say this?

**A/N (Yue):** Yay! KENSHIN ANGST! Makes me happy! lol, this is written by 2 people! I get the guys, (who are sexy) and Amaya-chan gets the girls! (I have a hatred for anime girls . Amaya: so do I but I have issues with writing stories from boys' point of views Yue: shut up!) anyways… I MUST WRITE WITHOUT FURTHER ADO! Voila! The something chapter of Matsudai Setsuna!

**A/N (Amaya):** sorry it took so long (it's completely my fault if you want to know) and you can yell at me all you want. Anyways Ninjakage is embarrassed that Yue-san finished a chapter before her and apologizes again. So… R&R!

**Forever In A Moment**

**Memories**

Kenshin opened his eyes to see the room was much brighter than when he had closed them. Blinking to ward off the temporary blindness that happened often when someone is awakened in a bright room he started to sit up. He could hear sounds coming from the TV, which he automatically switched off, not wanting to pay a higher electricity bill than necessary.

Moving around on the sofa to a more comfortable position, to avoid cramps that would probably occur anyway from sleeping on the sofa, he realized that it was no longer early morning, or morning at all in fact. He checked the flashing numbers on the cable box of the TV. Indeed it was almost 1pm.Trying not the think about the fact that school would be over in a matter of hours he looked around, slightly confused, before he suddenly saw a face flash in front of his eyes.

_Tomoe…_

Kenshin suddenly remembered how he had fallen asleep on the sofa. He had had a dream, a memory more like, about Tomoe. Thinking about her again, and remembering that day made him feel like the world was ending and she was dying in front of his for the second time. That it was his fault again that she was dying for the second time.

He held his head in his hands, breathing quickening with every time he thought of her. He started to shake with silent sobs and he could only whisper her name over and over again, hardly noticing the salty tears that were making tracks down his face.

_Tomoe, Tomoe, Tomoe, Tomoe…_

Kenshin had not managed to drag himself from the sofa yet. It was nearing the end of a normal school day. Of course he would have had an extracurricular activity after. He wasn't the sort of person that would be lazy and not join any club or activity. He liked to help whenever he could. However he knew he wouldn't be going today.

Kenshin stretched out of the sofa, so that he was on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He knew he really should be calling Sano to assure him of his saneness and health. Sano would be very worried right now, at the least. Kaoru and Megumi must be worried too. He should call them too.

Kenshin just sighed and rolled back over; it wasn't worth the energy of getting up. He put his face into one of the remaining pillows on the sofa, trying to block out the feelings of guilt. He knew he should call his friends, but the phone just seemed to far away.

Memories of Tomoe were too fresh in his mind. He opened his eyes only to see pillow fabric. There was nothing to distract him from thoughts of her. Her laughing, her smile, her kissing him ,her being close to him, her excited, her happy, her dead with blood crawling across her face, her lifeless eyes, her funeral.

He gasped and sat up. No, he didn't want to remember that. It was too much. He had just gotten over it. Kenshin shook her head and finally stood up, legs numb from not moving.

He dragged himself into the kitchen; though he was not hungry he knew he must eat something to keep his energy up. Unsurprisingly the refrigerator was almost empty. Sano, no doubt, had gone through it. Â Digging in a random cupboard for some instant ramen that he had hid for emergencies like this he looked down and caught his reflection in a knife (no doubt, also left out by Sano, who was too lazy to put anything in the dishwasher, and he was often asked to do).

His eyes widened. There was something red and sticky on it (Sano was eating something with jam). His thoughts, however were not focused on the fact Sano was a lazy ass, or the fact that he now had to hide all his food from Sano now. His eyes widened and he just had time to gasp before something flashed before his eyes.

_Blood, on his sword, on the ground, pooling around a newly dead body. Paper with only names, places and times scribbled on. Guns, swords, daggers, Tenchu... Tenchu... Tenchu... Dead bodies… lifeless corpses everywhere. Flashes of metal… gunshots… blood, blood, blood, blood. Faces, laughing, people with weapons coming towards him. He fought back, he could feel his anger, and he was sure this enemy would feel it too. He could hear someone screaming NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! _

Opening his eyes, Kenshin found it hard to put his vision into focus. After a few minutes the tiles of his kitchen zoomed into focus. He found he was leaning against the kitchen counter. Instant ramen container lying on the ground, the knife was out of sight on the counter.

His memories. They just came flowing back. He hadn't thought of those things in years, since he quit, since he had wanted to repent for the killings. Those people's deaths left footprints on his heart, even though he had known nothing of them but their name and their threat to his government.

That face! It had been Idzuka, and another one that had been in his dream had been of course Shishio. The traitors to the government and all that he fought for. How sad that he had thought he was allied with these great people. He left soon after the attack… as soon as he fell for Tomoe.

Reaching up he gripped the counter and pulled himself up, finding himself slightly weak from his blackout. Shakily standing he picked up the instant ramen and set it in the microwave, beeping in the amount of time he wanted it to cook it.

He looked over to the answering machine he had in the kitchen. The button for his voicemails was flashing, alerting him of his missed called. He ignored it, and pulled out a spoon from the drawer to consume his ramen with.

'It could be Sano,' he thought, 'or Megumi, maybe even Kaoru, but probably not. They all might be worried about me for not coming to school. I don't even remember the last time I missed school. I bet Sano was thinking if it was even possible for me to miss school.'

He chuckled slightly and tossed the empty plastic container into the trash can and threw his spoon in the sink. Yeah, Sano would defiantly be thinking something like that. Trust his best friend to make him smile, even when he wasn't there.

He dragged himself to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. He promptly stripped, throwing his clothes all over the room before forcing himself under the spray.

As the warm water washed over him he pushed these memories into the back of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he knew that his sins would never wash away.

-O-

Kaoru sighed and opened her locker. The way Kenshin had acted yesterday was still bothering her and Kaoru wanted to talk to him really badly. She was worried about him and she wanted to find out what was wrong. The only problem was that he didn't come to school today.

However, all thoughts about Kenshin disappeared when she saw a woman walking down the hallway. Her long, black hair was held back in a braid, her green eyes were full of happiness, and a smile was plastered to her face as she expertly made her way through the mass of students leaving the building.

Kaoru frowned slightly, her forehead wrinkling up in anger as she continued to watch the familiar face move towards her. Suddenly she picked up her back pack and shoved her way through the hoards of people, on a collision coarser with her 'old acquaintance'. As Kaoru approached the woman's side, she reached out her hand and grabbed the woman's wrist before dragging her off to one of the less crowded hallways. At first the woman looked at Kaoru suspiciously but a smile quickly reappeared on her face as recognition made itself known in her eyes.

Kaoru turned around to face the woman once she was sure that they wouldn't be overheard. She could only see pure happiness in her voice while she was sure that her eyes were filled with worry, pain, sorrow, and maybe just a _little_ bit of happiness. Don't get her wrong, she was very happy to see her 'nee-chan' and Kaoru affectionately called the woman in front of her. Makimachi Misao, for that was the woman's name, had taken care of Kaoru ever since her mother had fallen ill four years ago. Misao had been attending the local college and taken care of Kaoru as if she was family. Apparently her father thought that way too because Misao had suffered more than what she should have because of his wrath.

"_Kaoru-chan!"_

"_Nee-chan!"_

_A sixteen year old Kaoru eagerly ran down the school steps and towards the woman sitting in the silver convertible right outside the school. Kaoru happily opened the door to the passenger seat and slid into the car. She buckled her seatbelt as Misao pulled the car out into the road. Kaoru was excited because, not only was school going to be over in a month but, Misao's birthday was today and she had a wonderful present for her. It was a high quality kunai with Misao's name engraved on it. Kaoru knew that Misao liked marshal arts and weaponry and she hoped that this would something that Misao needed._

_They pulled up in front of Kaoru's house. It was a big house though not big enough to be considered a mansion. Like most houses in the vicinity it was painted white and was two stories tall. Kaoru and Misao waked up the front steps happily. Just as Misao was about to place her hand on the door knob the door was opened from the inside. _

_Standing in the hallway, beer bottle in hand, was Kaoru's father. As usual his black hair was in a disarray as it stuck out in a thousand different directions. He glared at the two girls before him before opening his right hand so that the object inside it was visible to everyone._

"_Why did you waste your money on this?" he asked Kaoru, anger evident in his voice._

"_It's Misao's birthday today," Kaoru replied while taking a step away from her father._

"_How many times do I have to tell you that weapons are not allowed in the house!"_

_Kaoru watched in horror as he raised his hand. She felt hands wrap around her body and pull her backwards as the blade cut her stomach. As the blade was raised again Kaoru felt herself being pushed behind a body._

"_Run Kaoru!" Misao shouted, blood oozing out of her arm as the blade raised itself again._

_Her body on autopilot, Kaoru turned around and ran. Her legs never stopped moving along the familiar path while her mind was in turmoil, multiple thoughts becoming one, incomprehensible blob._

_Kaoru felt her legs slowing down before stopping in front of a familiar sight. The water crashed down on the rocks below after as it fell off its familiar path. Kaoru felt her legs fold beneath her as she watched the beautiful, yet dangerous, sight before her. That was her father, a perfect father and husband in public. In private he was a monster, a demon of its leash._

_Kaoru sat there for hours watching the water fall. She didn't even notice when arms wrapped around her and the sweet voice telling her everything was okay. All she could think about was how her demon of a father was hurting her and everyone around her._

_Four months later she ran away from home._

"Oh Kaoru! I was so worried about you! Especially after what happened to your mother!" Misao exclaimed as she grabbed Kaoru into a tight hug, snapping Kaoru out of her memories.

"I'm fine Misao, really! Although right now I'm having trouble breathing," Kaoru gasped out and Misao quickly relinquished her hold on Kaoru.

"It's good to finally see you!" Misao said as she jumped up and down. Kaoru sweatdropped. No matter how long she had been around Misao she would never get used to the fact that she didn't act her age.

"I'm perfectly fine! Jesus! People would think you're my mother or something!"

Misao grinned at the annoyed teenager in front of her. Kaoru hadn't changed one bit.

"Phew! I was really worried! Especially after I heard on news that your father had disappeared and that your mother was de-"

Misao's eyes went wide and she clapped a hand to her mouth as Kaoru stared at her in curiosity and worry.

"Misao… what happened to my mother?"

"You know they think your father might have gone to-"

"Misao!"

Misao stopped talking and looked at the girl in front of her. She sighed and looked out the window before answering Kaoru's question.

"Kaoru… your mother's dead."


	8. Another Job

**A/N (Amaya):** We're sooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that it took this long! We weren't sure who was going to write this chapter so everything was out of whack! (Did I just say that… wow) _Anyways_! I'm going to try to make this chapter longer than the previous ones to make up for the wait and hopefully when school starts again we'll be more organized! Gomen nasai! R&R! (and yell at us all that you want… -.-;)

* * *

**Forever In A Moment**

**Another Job

* * *

**

"What are you doing here?"

The cold, midnight wind rushes into the house through the open door. The howl that had once only been a distant noise was now all that filled his ears. He could see the leaves being pulled violently away from the branches that hold them. One by one they are pulled away. One by one they are blown away into the darkness.

"Can I come in?"

Kenshin ran a hand through his tangled hair. The moon makes it seem brighter than it already is. A bright flame surrounding his pale face, paler now that the light of the moon shines on it. He sighs and opens the door so that the other man can come inside. Kenshin closed the door behind the man who was already making his way to the kitchen, a route he had taken countless times before.

"What are you doing here Takasugi-san?" Kenshin repeated as he sat down at the kitchen counter. The light above the table casts a dim glow around the room. The shadows seemed to flicker as the power lines outside swayed violently in the wind. It would only get worse when the actual storm started.

"To wish you a happy birthday. Then I will go pay my respects to the dead."

"You have never wished me a happy birthday before." Kenshin closed his eyes as he said this, resting his forehead in the palm of his head. He listened to the wind howl; its scream feeling his ears as it rushed through the trees. How he wished he could scream. He would scream until the feelings went away… but he could not. He could not let go of the feelings if it meant losing the memories.

"Why do you wish to pay her your respects? You never paid much attention to her when she was alive."

"She saved your life. That is enough of a reason for me. She sacrificed her life so that the person she loved would live to see a new day."

Takasugi walked over to the fridge and took out a can of coke. He glanced over at the teenage boy before sitting down across from him. The faint glow from the lamp made him look sicklier than he already was. From what Takasugi had gathered, Kenshin had skipped the past five days of school. The old Kenshin had never missed school… but then again the old Kenshin did not blame himself for an innocents' death.

"Why did you come?"

"You already know, don't you?"

"I quit the day after I woke up."

"I know. I remember."

"Then how come you're here?"

"You are the closest person we have to the person we are protecting."

"Well to bad for them. My job got Tomoe killed. I'm not going to endanger any of my friends ever again."

"I understand that-"

"No you don't!"

He could feel her arms wrap around him as she pulled him back into the car. He could have sworn that the house had actually shook instead of his body just remembering the shock as the two cars made impact with his. He was almost positive that it was real glass that was cutting his skin, not his imagination. He could hear the sirens, the shouts, the flames as they licked away at the cars. He could see the lights flashing even though his eyelids were not closed. He could see her body on the stretcher… her silky, black hair spilling out over the sides of the stretcher.

"You don't understand at all!"

The shock that had coursed through his body when Megumi and Sanosuke had told him the news. The understanding that it was all his fault. That she would not have died had he not had his job. That the fact that no bodies were in the other car was enough proof for that.

"You've never lost someone precious to you, have you!"

"_Because you're the reason Tomoe is dead."_

"Anyways…" Takasugi continued, pretending that nothing had happened. It hurt him to see Kenshin like this. Before the accident Kenshin had always been strong willed, vicious when on a mission… kind and caring when he was not. The crying teenager in front of him was not the person that Takasugi had known. However, this mission might possible change that. If the reports were true 'she' might be the person who could change him.

"The person you are protecting attends your school, not to mention she's in your class. Her father was recently discovered to be the leader of a notorious gang. She ran away recently which caused her father to kill her mother, so now he will also be arrested for first degree murder when we catch him. Anyways, we have information that he has recently joined with a small, but very powerful, gang called 'The Six Comrades'. At this point the leader is unknown but we hope that you will be able to catch him as well.

"Seeing as the reason why her mother is dead is because she had begged her husband to forget about their daughter and let her live her one life, it is safe to assume that he will come after her next. We already have two people from the Oniwabanshu whom we have recently joined forces with, mostly since the two people we have working on the mission had been assigned on the mission for about eleven years now. Your mission is to protect this girl whenever the other two can't. For example, walking her to and from school if possible, and looking after her whenever she goes out somewhere."

"Get someone else to do it. I'm not needed for this job."

"Yet you wish to protect the ones close to you?"

"…Hai."

"Then why would Kamiya Kaoru be an exception."

Thunder rolled in the distance as Kenshin looked up to see Takasugi staring at him. _Kaoru_ was the daughter of gang leader? _'Well that would explain the scars_,' Kenshin thought as he continued to stare at Takasugi.

"She can take care of herself. I saw her practice at the Kendo club."

"She's not as fast as you. She wouldn't be able to dodge a bullet."

"From her scars her father won't use a bullet."

"You've seen her scars?"

Kenshin was wondering why Takasugi was staring at him like he was a freak. All of a sudden it struck him and he turned ten different shades of him. "Not like that! I don't know about you but I'm not a pervert!"

"Right…" Takasugi said in a disbelieving tone. His appearance would have been perfect if it wasn't for the smile that kept on tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I'm telling the truth. As I was saying, her father won't use bullets. He would want her death to be slow and painful, that way she would understand how wrong it was for her to run away."

"She won't fight back. For years she hasn't fought back. Why would now be any different? The fear is too great."

Kenshin stood up and walked out of the kitchen, Takasugi close on his heals. Takasugi rounded the corner, only to see Kenshin slipping on his sneakers, his sweatshirt draped over his right arm which was on the door handle.

"Where are you going?" Takasugi asked as he checked to see if he had everything. He was pretty sure that Kenshin wouldn't let him stay in his house while he was outside.

"I need to think." Kenshin dawned his sweatshirt in the open door way, pulling the hood over his head so as to keep his hair form getting wet. The rain was falling in sheets outside. Lighting lit the sky for a brief second before disappearing the sky, thunder following shortly afterwards.

"I'll be back in a week. You can give me your answer then," Takasugi said as he headed towards his car. Kenshin watched until his car was out of sight before he turned to his left and started walking away.

* * *

"_Promise me something Kaoru-chan," her mother said. She took Kaoru's hands in her frail ones and clasped them in a surprisingly firm grip for someone so weak._

"_What is it Okaa-san?"_

"_Promise me that no matter what, no matter what happens, promise me that you will never kill."_

"_Even if it's in self-defense? Even if _he_ is the one attacking me?"_

"_Hai. Even if it is against him."_

"_I'll try." Kaoru gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before hefting her bag onto her shoulder and walking towards the front door._

"_Kaoru-chan!"_

_Kaoru stopped at the door, her hand already twisting the handle as she waited for what her mother had to say._

"_Kaoru-chan! Promise me you won't kill him."_

_Kaoru stood there in silence for a little while. Eventually she sighed and opened the door all the way. "I don't know if I can."_

"_Kaoru-chan! Kaoru-chan!"_

_Kaoru closed the door behind her, silencing her mother's cries. She began the long trek down the driveway, away from the house that she would hopefully never see again._

Kaoru woke up in a cold sweat. She evened her breathing as she rolled over in bead. She glanced at the glowing numbers on her clock and groaned when she realized it was only ten o'clock. She had only been sleeping for an hour before she had that dream. Hopefully she would be able to get a decent amount of sleep tonight.

Why did she keep on having this dream now? Was it because her father was loose? Was it because she was not sure if she would be able to do the last think her mother asked from her?

Kaoru rolled out of bed and crashed onto the floor in a tangle of blankets. Once she was free, Kaoru stood up and found her way towards the kitchen. She stumbled towards the refrigerator. She covered her eyes, slowly spreading her fingers apart so that she could adjust to the light. She rummaged around before she grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper. She closed the door and moved around the kitchen counter and towards the living room, grabbing a bag of Doritos on the way.

Kaoru plopped down on the couch. She opened the Dr. Pepper and took a sip, her eyes glancing at the picture on her mantle. Most of them were pictures of Megumi, Sanosuke, and her. She had some pictures of Kenshin and herself but they were fewer since he had been skipping school this past week.

No one at the school seemed to be surprised; it was as if everyone was expecting this. Megumi and Sano were reluctant to tell her much about what was going on. All she could understand that someone named Yukishiro Tomoe died. So why was that so much to keep Kenshin away from school for a week?

She could understand that he would be upset if she had been his girlfriend… but if that was the case why was he allowed to skip so much school? Wouldn't the teachers be angry with him?

Kaoru ripped open the Doritos bag and stuffed a handful into her mouth. _'Why does this bother me so much? I barely even know the guy and I'm suddenly worried about his well being.'_ Kaoru sighed and leaned over to grab her laptop which she had left by the couch earlier that day. She lifted it up carefully, making sure that the power cord didn't knock anything over.

She pressed the power button and ate some more chips as she waited for the computer to boot up. She smiled when she saw the picture she was using as her background. It was a picture of Sano chasing Kenshin around Kenshin's apartment while Megumi just sat on the couch eating popcorn.

Remembering what she wanted to do, Kaoru made sure that her wireless connection was working before she opened up a window for Internet Explorer. She then went to Google and searched for 'Yukishiro Tomoe'. She clicked on the most promising looking link and read the article that popped up.

_Last night, at around eleven o'clock, four friends left the ever so popular restaurant called _Akabeko_ after celebrating seventeen year old Himura Kenshin's birthday. After saying goodbye to their two friends, Sagara Sanosuke and Takashi Megumi, Kenshin and his girlfriend, Yukishiro Tomoe, got into Kenshin's car in order to go home. Unfortunately neither of them got that far._

_From what the police could gather from the evidence at the scene, a gun had been fired twice, puncturing the rear wheels and causing the car to come to a stop. Then two cars came from behind and crashed into the two teenager's car._

"_No one could have thought that this would happen," comments Sagara Sanosuke on yesterday's accident. "The streets had been empty since basically everyone was home. Neither of them deserved to be killed, but maybe if there had been more people on the streets this wouldn't have happened."_

_According to the medical reports, Himura Kenshin was barely alive. Pieces of glass were embedded all along his body and his arm was broken from where it had been stuck in between one of the oncoming cars and his. Yukishiro Tomoe had died on impact, her skull smashed by the other car. However, Tomoe's body is probably the only reason why Kenshin is alive today._

"_Tomoe was a kind girl," Takashi Megumi comments tearfully. "She was fun to be around and so carefree. I know that me and Sano will miss her greatly since she was like a sister to us, but Kenshin and Enishi, Tomoe's brother, will miss her ten times more than we do. Kenshin and Tomoe were perfect for each other, I wouldn't have been surprised if they got married immediately after high school. Tomoe was Enishi's only living relative. He'll be completely miserable and lonely without her."_

_Luckily paramedics were close enough to reach the scene of the accident before the cars exploded, in which case both of the teenagers would have died instead of just one. No bodies were found in the other two cars. Attempt on murder for either of the two occupants is likely. That train of thought is being investigated by the police._

'_Oh Kenshin,_' Kaoru thought as tears slid through her eyelids. She cried for her new friend for the rest of the night, all thoughts about her mother last wish disappeared from her mind.

* * *

'_So she's found it, huh? Soon she'll get closer to the truth. Soon she will realize that _he_ was the reason why the only important person in this world is dead. All I need to do is push her in the right direction…_'

His glasses gleamed in the dark room, reflecting the light of the computer as he continued to watch, wondering if Kamiya Kaoru would search for anymore information that night. The phone rang and he picked it up immediately. "This better be worth my time."

'Takasugi Shinsaku appeared at his house today. They talked for no more that fifteen minutes, but I'm guessing that the topic disturbed him greatly because he came out of his house for the first time in five days.'

"Anything else?"

'When he went outside he walked over to that Kamiya girl's house.'

"I see… interesting…"

'Is there anything else I can do fore you sir?'

"No that's all. You can come back now."

'Hai.'

He continued to watch the computer for any sign of activity as he listened to the rain outside, his thoughts muddled and unclear. He couldn't figure out. What would disturb that despicable boy so?

"What did you tell him Takasugi? What did you tell Hitokiri Battōsai?"

* * *

'_Why am I here? Why did I come here of all places?_'

Kenshin stared up at the dark windows of the house now belonging to Kamiya Kaoru. He had no reason to be here, none at all. So why was he here?

_You're worried about her._

'_Why should I be?_'

_Her father wants to kill her._

'_She can take care of herself._'

_Then where did the scars come from?_

'_She has two people to protect her now. I'm not needed._'

_According to Takasugi-san they were there before. If you weren't needed then they would have been able to protect her before._

Kenshin sighed in frustration and turned his head to the sky, letting the rain fall down on his face. His bangs were plastered to his forehead but he didn't need to see. He could get anywhere he wanted to in a ten block radius without sight. So he let the rain fall on his face. He let it slide town towards the back of his neck, cooling him off.

'_I'll see what happens,_' Kenshin finally decided, looking back at Kaoru's dark house one more time before heading back to his apartment. '_I'll decide after one week._'

_You already know the answer's going to be yes._

Kenshin ignored the annoying voice in the back of his head, although he had to admit that he was most likely right.


	9. Sorry

Sorry, I really hate these too because they usually bode ill news like this one does, and here it is: Yueh-san has moved to Japan which is bad thing number one. Number two is that I have way too much hw this year and I've run out of inspiration for this story. I'm really sorry to all of you who really like this story but from now on there will be no more updates unless someone sends me some extremely amazing idea for this fic. If so, I'll think about it.

Once again, I'm really sorry.

- Amaya

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Thank you all!!! Wow, that sounded weird. I think I spelled all of the names correctly... Anyway, please email me if you have any ideas!!!


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